Scotland's A&E waiting times at best rate since November

Waiting times at emergency departments across Scotland have improved

Waiting times at Scotland's A&E departments have improved, according to the latest figures.

Public Health Scotland data showed that of the 20,580 people seeking emergency care during week ending 15 January, 64% were seen during the target time of four hours.

This was an increase from 57.2% the previous week and is the best performance since November.

However the number of people going to A&E has been decreasing for weeks.

The Scottish government's target is for 95% of patients to be seen, then admitted or discharged, within four hours.

The number of patients at A&E fell from a peak of 26,532 in the week to December 16 to 20,580 in the most recent figures - the lowest in more than a year.

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The number waiting four hours fell from 9,821 in the previous week to 7,419 in the week to January 15, while the number waiting more than eight hours dropped from 4,403 to 3,012.

The figures showed 1,501 people waited longer than 12 hours at A&E - a drop from 2,261 the previous week.

Earlier this month a record 2,506 people spent more than half a day in A&E.

In recent weeks, the number of hospital beds occupied by people who are medically well enough to go home has hit record highs.

Some cannot leave because there is insufficient social care - meanwhile patients cannot be admitted due to a lack of beds.

Emergency medicine doctors have issued multiple warnings previously about the unsafe conditions in A&E, with patients waiting for hours on chairs or on trolleys in departments that are understaffed.

'No sign of abating'

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the health service continued to be under tremendous pressure, but "through incredible efforts of our staff" there had been improvements in A&E performance.

However Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the NHS crisis showed no sign of abating.

He said long waits seemed to be the "new normal" and accused the Scottish government of taking patients and staff for granted.

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the "modest" improvement was "almost certainly down largely to a fall in attendance rates".

He added: "Even with this slight improvement - which is testament to dedicated colleagues on the frontline - more than one third of patients are still waiting over four hours to be seen and over 1,500 patients had to suffer the pain of waiting more than half a day in A&E on his watch, which is completely unacceptable."

Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie urged the Scottish government to take the issue of delayed discharge seriously as it is "key to ending the crisis in A&E once and for all".